R Amrutlal & Co

If you’ve ever walked through Masjid Bunder West, you know it’s one of the busiest parts of Mumbai. Our place is on Sampige Road, tucked away in the middle of all that chaos. It’s a very old area, and our shop has that lived-in feel with wooden shelves that have been around for decades. We deal with all sorts of things, and the inventory changes depending on what’s coming in from the docks or the local markets. The street outside is so narrow that trucks have a hard time getting through, so you always see handcarts and people carrying heavy bags on their shoulders. We start early in the morning when the shutters go up, and it doesn’t really stop until late at night. There isn't much room to move around inside because we try to fit as much stock as possible on the shelves. People come in and out all day, mostly regulars who have been buying from us for a long time. We know most of the other shopkeepers on the road too. We don’t have a website or anything like that; we just do our business face-to-face over the counter. Sometimes we have to shout a bit to be heard over the noise of the traffic and the vendors outside. It’s just the way things work here in this part of the city. We keep it simple and focus on the day’s trades.